Foldable umbrella, tent, or canopy.



S. MOCLELLAN.

POLDABLE UMBRELLA, TENT, OB GANOPY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17, 1910- Patented May 23, 1911.

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FOLDAIBLE UMBRELLA, TENT, OR CANOPY.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1911.

Application filed May 17, 1910. Serial No. 561,819.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, STEPHEN MOGLEL- LAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Foldable Umbrellas,Tents, or Canopies, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to new and useful improvements in foldableumbrellas, and especially to that class of. foldable umbrellas in whichthe lower sections of the ribs are positively locked in their closed andopened positions, and my present invention especially relates toimprovements over my allowed application, filed May 1, 1909, Ser. No.493,322.

The main object of my invent-ion is to afford means whereby the lowersections of the ribs of an umbrella may be positively locked againstmovement in any direct-ion while said umbrella is in raised position.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby the lowersections of the ribs of said umbrella will be locked when the umbrellais in closed position.

Another object of my device is to produce a foldable rod, andfurthermore, a handle so constructed that the same may be slid upon therod so as to reduce the length thereof when the umbrella is in foldedposition, and thus doing away with the necessity of employing two jointsas hitherto necessary, enabling the same to be more cheaplymanufactured.

A further novel feature of my device is to produce a foldable rod soconstructed that the sections thereof are not liable'to come apart.

A further object of my device is to provide means for enabling theumbrella to stand alone while being employed as an umbrella canopy ortent.

A further novel feature of my invention is to provide anovel runner andnovel spring clasp to secure the runner against vertical movement ineither direction when said umbrella is either in closed or openposition, which becomes a necessity in the construction of my device.

lVith the above and other objects in view my invention consists of thenovel construction and arrangement of parts as are hereinafter describedin this specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawings forminga part thereof, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevational view of one riband the rod, as it would appear in open position, said rib and rod beingconnected together with its corresponding brace. Fig. 2 is an elevationof the above rib, rod, handle and brace as it would appear while infolded position. Fig. 3 is a view of the several parts of the rod, andhandle, disassembled. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal, sectional View of thelocking means as it would appear when the umbrella is in open position,as shown also in Fig. 1, said View being on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 isa longitudinal, sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the lockingmeans, showing the position of the locking parts while in unlockedposition. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the locking meansas they would appear when the said umbrella is in closed position, saidparts being on an enlarged scale.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, my invention is describedas follows:

7 The rod 1, which may be hollow, is encircled by the runner 2, wheretois pivotally held the inner end of each of the braces 3. Held securelyto the upper end of the rod is a notch 4L, whereto is pivotally held theinner end of the upper section 5 of each rib 6. The lower section ofeach of the ribs will be designated as 7. Securely held to the lower endof each of said upper sections 6 is a pair of similar plates 8. In myformer invention herein referred to only one plate was employed.Pivotally held between the plates 8 is the locking member 9 of the lowersection 7, the pin 10 passing through the said plates and member 9.Pivotally held between said plates is the locking member 11 of saidbrace 8, the pin 12 passing through said plates and the member 11.

lVhere the locking members 9 and 11 are now used, I emploved bifurcatedportions in my former invention above referred to, thus rendering mypresent invention simpler in construction, stronger and neater. Inpivoting the members between the plates 8, the pins 10 and 12 are almostin alinement with a line drawn at right angles to the longitudinal axisof the plates, that is a line drawn in such manner through the lowerwill be a tangent of the upper 10.

Formed integral with'the locking member 9 is a lug 13, which provides ashoulder 14, forming in conjunction with the main portion of the lockingmember a right-angle bend 14, said right angle bend binding against andinterlocking w th the upper and front edges of the rectangular end 16 ofthe locking member 11, when the umbrella 1s 1n open position. (See Flg.4, whlch shows fully the construction).

A pin 17, which passes through the plates 8 further secures the lowerrib section 7 against downward movement when the umbrella is in openposition.

A. resilient tooth 18 protrudes from the shoulder 19 of the lockingmember 11, said tooth provided with an inwardly extend ng acute-angularportion 20, wh1ch port on binds against the tooth 15 of the lockingmember 9. When thus positioned the lower section of each rib 6 is lockedagainst movement while the umbrella is in closed position, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 6. Each section remains locked until the lockingmember 11 releases it when the umbrella begins to open. The object ofhaving one tooth resilient is to afiord means whereby the lower sectionof each rib may be locked in position after the umbrella is closed ifdesired. Both of said teeth may be SOllCl, but in such case the lowersections of the ribs would necessarily have to be unfolded first, thatis, before the runner 25 reaches 1ts lowest position, to preventpossible snapping of any of the parts.

The rod 1 is composed of two sections 21 and 22, each of said sectionsbeing provided with an annular groove 23 and 24, respectively. Travelingupon the rod is a runner 2, said runner being adapted to engage eitherof said grooves 23 or 24, by means of the spring actuated ring 26, whichencircles said runner and coincides with the notch 27 cut therein. Thespring that supports said ring 26 is designated by 26. The advantages ofthe above ring lock or catch are in that the same will look at any pointwithin a circle and prevents vertical movement of the runner in eitherdirection, and in assembling, the parts are more easily put together.The lower section of the rod is provided with internal threads 28, whichengage the external threads 29 of the plunger 30, which plunger isprovided with two perforated ears 31, which receive one perforated endof the extension member 32, the other perforated end of which member isreceived by the bifurcated lower extremity of the upper section 21 ofthe rod. The plunger 30 is held in position by the threads as shown orby any other suitable means adapted for the purpose.

The upper section 21 of the rod is reduced from a point 33 to its lowerend for the accommodation of a sleeve 34, the diameter of which is nogreater than the diameter of any other part of the rod 1. When the rodis in straight or unfolded position the sleeve 34 is slipped down andits internal threads 35 arecaused to engage said external threads 29 ofthe plunger 30, which threads protrude above the upper end of the lowersection 22. (See Fig. 2). By the employment of this sleeve I assure alocking means between the upper and lower sections of the rod which isnot liable to come apart. Said sleeve is made somewhat longer thanabsolutely necessary as is the runner 25 for the purpose of covering andstrengthening the said reduced portion of the upper section 21 of therod 1, and giving the appearance of a stick having a constant diameterthroughout.

Secured to the lower end of the rod 1 by means of the head 36, which isheld thereto by means of the threaded neck 37, is a handle 38, whichhandle is provided with a longitudinal hole 39 therein. Said hole 39 isreduced near the upper end of the handle forming the shoulder 40, whichshoulder binds against the head 36, thus preventing the removal of saidhandle from the rod. The handle 38 is adapted to be slid in upon the rod1, to the position seen in Fig. 2, and is held in whatever positiondesired by the thumb-screw 41.

Provided in the lower end of the hole 39 are the internal threads 42,which threads engage the external threads 43 of the pin 44, when it isdesired to use the pin 44, when employing the umbrella as a'tent orcanopy. The pin 44 is provided with a removable point 45, rotatably heldin the socket 46 by means of the thumbscrew 47. The upper portion 48 ofthe pin 44 may be turned at any angle by releasing the thumb-nut 49 andturning the said portion 48v at the desired angle, upon the axis of thedisk 50.

The umbrella being in open position and it is desired to fold the sameinto that position illustrated in Fig. 2, the runner 2 is released fromthe lower groove 24 and slid upward until the brace 3 has assumed thatposition which is necessary to put the locking members in that positionillustrated in Fig. 5, when said lower section 7 of the rib 6, is swungback in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, until itcontacts the upper section 5 of the rib. The runner is then slid fartherupward until it almost contacts said notch 4, when the umbrella,pro-per, is in folded position. The thumb-- screw 41 of the handle isreleased and the handle is slid upon the rod until it entirely overlapsthe same when the handle is again held in place by means of the tensionof the thumb-screw. The rod is folded by unscrewing the sleeve 34 fromengagement with the threads 29, when it is slipped back upon the reducedportion of the upper section of the umbrella a sufiicient distance toavoid interference with the parts 29 and 32. The reduced portion is madeof sufiicient length to accommodate the said sleeve. hen the sleeve hasbeen slid upon the reduced portion, as described, the rod is then foldedas seen in Fig. 2. The entire umbrella is then in folded position.

My umbrella being in folded position and it is desired to cause the sameto assume an open position, the rod 1 is first unfolded, the lowersection thereof being placed in alinement with the upper section thereofas illustrated in Fig. 1. The handle is also caused to assume its normalposition as also shown in Fig. 1. The runner 2 is then slid downwardpast the groove 23 until each of the locking members assume a position,in relation to each other, similar to that seen in Fig. 5, when thelower sections 7 of the ribs are swung outward into a position asillustrated in Fig. 1. Said runner 25 is then slid upward until itengages the groove 23. The umbrella is then in open position. Myinvention being in open po sition and it is desired to close the same,said runner 25 is released from the groove 23, slid downward until it isengaged by the groove 24. The lower sections 7 are locked by means ofthe tooth 15 and resilient tooth 20, when the umbrella is in closedposition.

From the foregoing explanation of the operation of my device it will beobvious that the key to the difierent positions at which the lowersections 7 will be held in locking relation to the upper sections 5, isthe runner 2, as, in order to cause the umbrella to assume one positionfrom that of another, it is necessary to slide said runner to thatposition on the rod 1 which is necessary to bring the locking members inthat relation to each other, known as the unlocked position, asillustrated in Fig. 5.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, is:

1. A foldable umbrella comprising ribs formed in two sections, each ofwhich ribs, in conjunction with its corresponding brace, forms a lockwhich locks the lower sections thereof positively against movement inrelation to the upper section thereof, said locks each comprising a pairof similar plates secured to the outer end of each upper section of eachrib, a locking member provided at the inner end of the lower section ofeach rib, and a locking member at the outer end of each brace, each ofsaid locking members pivotally held between said plates, the lockingmember of the lower section of each rib provided with a lug forming ashoulder, which shoulder, in conjunction with the main body of themember, forms a right-angle bend, the locking member of each braceterminating in a rectangular portion, which portion enters and bindsagainst the right-angle bend of the first-mentioned locking member whenthe locking members are in locked relation to each other.

2. In a foldable umbrella comprising ribs and corresponding braces, saidribs each composed of two sections, the upper of which sections hassecured to the outer end thereof two similar plates, a locking memberheld to the inner end of the lower of the sections, said memberpivotally held between the said plates, a locking member held to theouter end of each corresponding brace, said member pivotally heldbetween the said plates, the points in the plates where the lockingmembers are pivotally held being almost in vertical alinement with eachother, a tooth provided on one edge of the first-1nentioned lockingmember, a shoulder provided on one edge of the second-mentioned lockingmember, a resilient tooth protruding from said shoulder, said tooth ofthe first-mentioned member binds against and interlocking with theresilient tooth of the second-mentioned looking member when the umbrellais in closed position.

3. In an umbrella as described comprising a rod and runner, said rodprovided with two annular grooves therein, a runner slidably encirclingthe rod, said runner provided With a notch cut therein, a ringencircling the runner and coinciding with the notch, said ring for thepurpose of engaging either of the annular grooves in the rod, a fiatspring secured to the runner to the upper end of which is secured thering.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

STEPHEN MCCLELLAN.

Witnesses:

C. M. FORREST, R. It. DUFFHE.

Copies of this patent may bebbtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

